R 101 Engineer John Henry Binks (more commonly known as Joe) was born on 29.12.1891. John Henry served in the Navy for 12 years and joined the crew in 1929 and by 1930 was a resident of Shortstown. In 1933 it was reported in the local press that he had fainted at the first R101 memorial service held at Allone in France.
He continued to work on the camp (RAF Cardington based on the former Royal Airship Works site) for many years after and was part of the small team who worked on Lord Ventry’s airship The Bournemouth in the early 1950’s. Binks Court in Shortstown is named after him in a tribute to his long association with the area.